I've heard from several people that there are a series of underground caverns under China Lake that goes all the way to the ocean. While the tale sounds too fantastic to believe there a lot of articles floating around the internet to suggest it may actually be true. Here is one such article. Fact or fiction?

"Some time ago, I heard a man on a TV interview-show briefly mention that parts of California and neighboring states are floating on the Pacific Ocean! He was a high ranking Naval officer on a top- secret nuclear submarine that has been (and is) exploring and mapping these enormous caverns and passage-ways underneath the West for over 10 years now.

I heard stories from the locals that a truck at the plant fell through the brine one time and that it went over 500 foot deep. I believe it's true that California is divided by two geological plates that are pulling apart AKA the San Andreas fault. It makes sense that there would be some underwater caves created by this. Having a passageway big enough to drive a nuclear powered submarine down to the ocean does seem far fetched though. At the very least there would have to be a series of locks built to keep the water from flowing out through them because we are at 1500 foot elevation and the sea is at sea level (duh).

Interesting find Bill. I wonder if they just drilled into some sort of natural preexisting cave system and modified it. Before they closed off Ruth Mine I noticed what appeared to be several natural looking cave like formations. Ruth Mine goes into the tiny mountain in front of Argus peak so there is a good possibility that the ones inside Argus peak could be huge, if they even exist at all.

The following is an extract from the excellent and thoroughly researched book Underground Bases and Tunnels: What is the Government Trying to Hide? by Richard Sauder Phd.

I downloaded a pdf version of the book from a torrent site and it gives detailed illustrations of the blueprints for the China Lake base which were originally devised in the 60s (I think).

"...I would reemphasize at this juncture that I do notknow whether or not any of the cavities discussed in thisArmy Corps of Engineers document, including the one nearTrona, California, were ever excavated. Clearly, a greatdeal of care and time was invested in this planning study;whether that care and planning translated into actualconstruction I do not know. I would note, however, thatthe projected Trona, California site lies just inside theboundary of the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, whichhas long been rumored to be the site of a massiveunderground installation. While I cannot speak to the truthof the rumor, I nevertheless find it suggestive that in 1964the Army Corps of Engineers published a document thatsets out in some detail a plan to construct a large, deepunderground cavity at that location.I know from direct experience that at least one U.S.Army facility does exist.The U.S. Army operates a facility in the northernVirginia town of Warrenton. A reported undergroundbunker known as the U.S. Army Warrenton TrainingCenter, this very secretive installation is supposedly aFederal Relocation Center for an unknown agency.20 Infact, when I visited the area in the summer of 1992 Idecided that there may possibly be two such sites. Thereare two U.S. Army facilities there, one on Rt. 802 and the39Underground Bases and Tunnelsother on Bear Wallow Road, on Viewtree Mountain. Onefacility is "Station A" and the other is "Station B". Both havesigns out front saying "Warrenton Training Center."When asked about local, underground installations,the person who gave directions to these facilities said thatStation B is believed to be a computing and communicationsfacility (this may well be true, judging by the largeantennae towering overhead and the AT&T microwavefacility located in a field to the rear). He then added, "butno one knows what goes on at Station A." Unfortunately, ifthe actions of the guard on duty at Station A when I visitedare any indication the Army does not want anyone to findout, either.As I attempted to snap a photo of the gate area frommy car the guard sprang into action and bounded towardme waving his arms and angrily shouting, "No!"Somewhat taken aback at his reaction, which seemedout of all proportion to an innocent snapshot of agovernment facility, I asked him, "Why not? I'm on a publicright-of-way."He replied even more forcefully, "Because I said so!"As he spoke those words, three other security personnelstanding just inside the gate began to move toward me.Suddenly feeling very much as if I had abruptly beenstripped of citizenship in a democratic republic and hadcrossed over unaware into some grim netherworld ruled bymilitary decree I gave up trying to take a picture and droveaway.Peering through the fence at the back of theinstallation I did notice that at Station A there aremassively thick power cables that descend utility polesfrom large electrical transformers and disappearunderground."

"SITE 3- INYO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. Access via inclinedshaft. The five potential sites are located in the ArgusMountains and near the town of Darwin. The report saysthe two most important locations, from the standpoint ofgeological conditions that are favorable for constructing alarge, underground cavity, are sites D and E. Site D is 4miles due west of Darwin; Site E is several miles northwestof Trona, directly under Argus Peak. This is a few milesinside the boundary of the China Lake Naval WeaponsCenter."36

"I would reemphasize at this juncture that I do notknow whether or not any of the cavities discussed in thisArmy Corps of Engineers document, including the one nearTrona, California, were ever excavated. Clearly, a greatdeal of care and time was invested in this planning study;whether that care and planning translated into actualconstruction I do not know. I would note, however, thatthe projected Trona, California site lies just inside theboundary of the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, whichhas long been rumored to be the site of a massiveunderground installation. While I cannot speak to the truthof the rumor, I nevertheless find it suggestive that in 1964the Army Corps of Engineers published a document thatsets out in some detail a plan to construct a large, deepunderground cavity at that location."

What Lies Below Argus Peak?It seems that we'd have heard more about this underground facility. I realize that people who work on base aren't supposed to talk about secret facilities, but it would seem that there would be rumors. There would most likely be large tunnels which provide access to the facility and it's likely they'd be visible on Google maps satellite view. Anyone have a chance to check that out?

surfsteve wrote:I would reemphasize at this juncture that I do not know whether or not any of the cavities discussed in this Army Corps of Engineers document, including the one near Trona, California, were ever excavated. Clearly, a great deal of care and time was invested in this planning study; whether that care and planning translated into actual construction I do not know. I would note, however, that the projected Trona, California site lies just inside the boundary of the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, which has long been rumored to be the site of a massive underground installation. While I cannot speak to the truth of the rumor, I nevertheless find it suggestive that in 1964 the Army Corps of Engineers published a document that sets out in some detail a plan to construct a large, deep underground cavity at that location.